Paul was right. Huh. Who’d have trusted an octopus with this?
But he chose Spain and Spain won.
And, by all the octopi in the world, we deserved it!!! I know that victory doesn’t go always to the deserving, that pretty build-ups and incredible amounts of possession don’t always mean anything, but they did this time. Unlike our match against Switzerland, this time we had luck and cephalopods on our side.
First of all, congratulations to Germany. They had a great match: a good keeper, an impeccable defence, a fighting midfield and (particularly when Kross came on) a dangerous attack. But what can I say? Spain was better. San Iker was saintly, Puyol and Piqué were immense, our midfield flowed and fought, and even if it wasn’t Villa’s day for breaking records, he, Pedro and Iniesta did everything they could.
What a match it was! Enough to conquer the admiration of the neutrals, and make the more partial fans screech and swoon.
Vicente Del Bosque, kind moustachioed soul that he is, gave in under the weight of evidence and took Torres off the starting XI. For Llorente, who’d already proved his worth? For Fàbregas, the most under-used star of the tournament? For Silva, who’d played a pretty decent match already? No… you don’t know Del Bosque if you think you can guess at his changes. He went for Pedrito, for 21-year-old, recently-capped-in-a-friendly, not-even-starter-with-his-club Pedro Rodríguez.
Spain’s starting XI was: Casillas, Ramos, Piqué, Puyol, Capdevila, Alonso, Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta, Pedrito and Villa. Same old defence, same old double-pivot, but with Villa at the center of our attack, while Iniesta took the left and Pedrito, the right (at least on paper, because they swapped places whenever necessary).
On his hand, the most stylish coach in the tournament (yes, even when he’s picking his nose and wearing his unwashed blue v-necked sweater), Joachim Löw, played Neuer, Lahm, Friedrich, Per Mertesacker, J. Boateng, Trochowski, Khedira, Schweinsteiger, Podolski,
